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 Theophony wrote:
Go old school razorback with the pilot spot behind the guns and have him in there. Definitely needs to be painted like a damnation though.

It's not a bad idea. I'll keep it in mind if I really struggle to get it to work inside.
I don't want it being confused with a razorback though, and it might with that arrangement.
Also, being sat outside is probably not great if your driver is keen on going through buildings...

I have puttied-up the gunner's backside...
Needs a little sanding and it should be fine, although at the moment (with the white milliput) it does look like it's wearing a nappy...
Not a lot to show today then.

Keep the ideas coming though. It's all taken on board and if it's not used now, it'll be saved for the future.
Thanks.

In other news...
I've done a little cake decorating today and I've built the next commission job.

Now then, are you sure you didn't just pick a load of rusty gubbins out of a bin and stick them on a base??

Tank is looking very interesting - I have nothing to offer as I'm very confused, but I know you'll make it work

 Ruglud wrote:
Now then, are you sure you didn't just pick a load of rusty gubbins out of a bin and stick them on a base??

Thanks. I'm glad it looks realistic enough for that.
Although, there are three pieces of actual rusty metal on there that I didn't do anything other than stick them on.
If they don't stand out from all the painted rust, then job's a goodun.

Tank is looking very interesting - I have nothing to offer as I'm very confused, but I know you'll make it work

I hope that's a "good" sort of confused (the kind that my army is designed to create) and not a "bad" (what the hell do you think you're doing) kind of confused...

There is a lot more detail to add that will show how the whole tank works, but I can explain something if you have a specific question.

No progress today, been busy with other things (namely, making a table centre thing for Christmas out of real holly. If you're gentle, it doesn't hurt that much...)

 Dr H wrote:

 Ruglud wrote:
Now then, are you sure you didn't just pick a load of rusty gubbins out of a bin and stick them on a base??

Thanks. I'm glad it looks realistic enough for that.
Although, there are three pieces of actual rusty metal on there that I didn't do anything other than stick them on.
If they don't stand out from all the painted rust, then job's a goodun.

Ahha - there you go - awesome though, wouldn't be able to tell the real from the mimic...

Tank is looking very interesting - I have nothing to offer as I'm very confused, but I know you'll make it work

I hope that's a "good" sort of confused (the kind that my army is designed to create) and not a "bad" (what the hell do you think you're doing) kind of confused...

There is a lot more detail to add that will show how the whole tank works, but I can explain something if you have a specific question.

No, that's fine, my confusion is how this all fits together, but I like the slow reveal which explains it all as you go. And your ste-by-step tutorials are always the icing on the cake for me Anyway, I'm permanently in a state of confusion so all is good

No progress today, been busy with other things (namely, making a table centre thing for Christmas out of real holly. If you're gentle, it doesn't hurt that much...)

Christmas table decorations? I haven't seen one of those since the mid 80s, we had a log with some fake snow and a scrawny looking plastic Robin (the bird, not Batman's little mate) - wanna see photos as it's making me all nostalgic about my yoof

 Ruglud wrote:
Ahha - there you go - awesome though, wouldn't be able to tell the real from the mimic...

Cool. That's what I wanted. Together with a wide variety of rust colours.

No, that's fine, my confusion is how this all fits together, but I like the slow reveal which explains it all as you go.

K. It will all make sense in the end.
It all fits together ... in ... by ... ? ... It all fits together ... because I tell it to, with liberal helpings of cutting and putty and imagination...
Like most of my models here, I have a rough idea of where I'm going with it and then I look through all the bits and bitz and pieces and see if I have anything that fits what I want to make in shape. If I do, I use it with a little modification (often to make it fit). If I can't find what I want, I make it from scratch. Or a combination of the two...
The things I use and the space I have to work in usually define what the final product looks like (I remain flexible with the look in my mind, so long as it looks like it works how I imagine).

And your ste-by-step tutorials are always the icing on the cake for me

Nice to know that people enjoy the stream of conciousness that is my blog. I've learnt a lot from other blogs where people share all that they do, be it good or bad (in fact you can often learn as much, if not more, from something that didn't work right than something that worked as expected).
So, I like to give something back and it's nice to talk to people that have an interest in the same area.
Hopefully you all understand what I say. I don't get that many questions about my models, so either everyone is in the same state of confusion as you, Ruglud, or I'm explaining myself well...

No progress today, been busy with other things (namely, making a table centre thing for Christmas out of real holly. If you're gentle, it doesn't hurt that much...)

Christmas table decorations? I haven't seen one of those since the mid 80s, we had a log with some fake snow and a scrawny looking plastic Robin (the bird, not Batman's little mate) - wanna see photos as it's making me all nostalgic about my yoof

I'll try and sneak a picture in here when there's more to show (it just looks like a pile of holly at the moment in spite of the amount of work I put in to make it that shape)

So, as there's been no pictures here for a little while, it's time for an update on the tank...
I knew I would find a better use for the random bits that I cut off the Wave serpent...table legs.

The rest is made up of card, some sprue and the other cockpit panel I found. There's much more to add (and has been added since) that will make this look more functional.
There's also quite a bit of filling to do and I need to add a railing of some kind for the gunner to cling on to...

And I've added the strip to hide the edge of the new floor I added at the start...

A length of card and rivets made from water filter beads (nice and rounded so you don't trip on them ).
I may add some to the blank space on the original floor too.

I also bent the gunner's tail as much as it's going to get using hot and cold water. If it needs bending further, I'm going to need higher temperatures or just chop, re-glue and carve... we will see when it comes to sticking him in.

Until next time.

I love it when a tank comes together

Best of luck in the terrain comp, IMO your's has be best rust (rust being a common feature of all the entrants).

 OneManNoodles wrote:
I love it when a tank comes together

nice one.

Best of luck in the terrain comp, IMO your's has be best rust (rust being a common feature of all the entrants).

Thanks mate. Maybe I am in with a shot of winning something then. With the sheer volume of rust on mine I was bound to get some of them right.
Good luck with your's too. It's a tough contest at all levels.

On that note, to all you readers out there: The voting for the Daemon Prince prize is still ongoing and needs your vote. Go, go now, do it...

Though by now I have come to expect nothing less from you I still have to say the detail you are putting into the interior of the tank is impressive, I really enjoy your builds.

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
Though by now I have come to expect nothing less from you I still have to say the detail you are putting into the interior of the tank is impressive, I really enjoy your builds.

Thanks Skalk. So do I.
You can say that I'm getting my money's worth out of my models. I always bought models by looking at the number of pieces, as more pieces meant a more challenging build. But those sort of models are built to-the-letter from the instructions, now I've discovered converting/scratch-building of sci-fi models (that can therefore look however you like), it's opened up a whole new level of challenge to model making that I didn't know was possible before.
So, more detail = more pieces = greater challenge = more fun.

On that note, I did add the second strip of rivets to the floor and the use of these water filter beads gave me an idea while working on the gunner's panel...

...You can use the same technique to add buttons/switches


I also realised while making this, that it looks a great deal like the controls for an electron microscope...curious...

Next job is to add railing and then fill the gaps.
I'm in two minds about whether to fill behind the upright part of the controls (the light grey bit). On the one hand, it'll be nice a neat and will make me happy. On the other hand, it'll be really tricky, slightly unnecessary, will look fine as it is inside the tank and I'm not sure how to actually do it... thoughts?

Never know when you might need to do a bit of microscopy when out in the field. Sure the mad scientist is aware of that...

As to filling, could you get away with a thin plasticard strip glued to the cosole edges?

 monkeytroll wrote:
Never know when you might need to do a bit of microscopy when out in the field. Sure the mad scientist is aware of that...

Yeah, but I can't see a Tyranid being much good at it no matter however much training you give it...
It's also missing the large upright cylinder that is the actual microscope.
They are quite fun to play with though, especially when you realise what ~100000x magnification is and how small the thing you are looking at is...

As to filling, could you get away with a thin plasticard strip glued to the cosole edges?

Possible, but you have to make it fit around a curved surface that's at an angle to the wall... would need some very accurate cutting.

The railings went on easily so here's some more pictures that will show you the gap behind the panel and how I'm thinking about positioning the gunner.


I may actually bend his tail the other way now I can see him standing in there...bugger...

Throw some milliput or greenstuff in the gap to fill it, then you can shape and it'll look like it's made to measure. Cool looking set-up, makes me think he's about to play the latest flight simulator.

I'd also be tempted to fill the gaps under the legs, maybe make a curved plate effect slightly large in diameter then the leg feet?

 Ruglud wrote:
Throw some milliput or greenstuff in the gap to fill it, then you can shape and it'll look like it's made to measure. Cool looking set-up, makes me think he's about to play the latest flight simulator.

Thanks Ruglud.
Yeah, that was my first plan. I just didn't want to keep pushing loads of putty behind there (or get it smooth and then it fall in). I may jam in a load of junk first to roughly fill the space and then smooth over with putty when I do the underside of the console.

I'd also be tempted to fill the gaps under the legs, maybe make a curved plate effect slightly large in diameter then the leg feet?

You mean where the legs meet the floor?
I hadn't thought about that yet, but I may add a thin plate (riveted to the floor) under them.

(p.s. I hope things get better round your way soon)

Yeah, I was thinking of maybe a 2mm strip that didn't quite connect to the wall but would give that impression when viewed, but looking at the side view that probably wouldn't work. go with the Ruglud's suggestion of gs/milliput, or even blu-tac and pva in there as it doesn't have to hold up to any handling.

I'll disagree with the right honourable Ruglud though and say I prefer the open legged look for the console

And I think I'd cut his tail off completely and sculpt a new one curving down to the floor on his left side.....

edit: Actually I think I midunderstood him there, I thought he meant make it a solid console......

 monkeytroll wrote:
Yeah, I was thinking of maybe a 2mm strip that didn't quite connect to the wall but would give that impression when viewed, but looking at the side view that probably wouldn't work. go with the Ruglud's suggestion of gs/milliput, or even blu-tac and pva in there as it doesn't have to hold up to any handling.

Yeah, I realised that the front-on view didn't really give you the full picture of the gap.
I'll give it a go with some putty.
Note also that it overlaps with the door pillar. That may also complicate matters...

I'll disagree with the right honourable Ruglud though and say I prefer the open legged look for the console

edit: Actually I think I midunderstood him there, I thought he meant make it a solid console......

That was also my first impression of what he said. But I think he means a floor-plate.

And I think I'd cut his tail off completely and sculpt a new one curving down to the floor on his left side.....

If I end up snapping it off when bending it the other way I may end up doing that...
I do want it to remain in the air though, as it's for balance.

Dr H wrote:

 Ruglud wrote:
Throw some milliput or greenstuff in the gap to fill it, then you can shape and it'll look like it's made to measure. Cool looking set-up, makes me think he's about to play the latest flight simulator.

Thanks Ruglud.
Yeah, that was my first plan. I just didn't want to keep pushing loads of putty behind there (or get it smooth and then it fall in). I may jam in a load of junk first to roughly fill the space and then smooth over with putty when I do the underside of the console.

Stick some putty in roughly, not too much and slightly lower than the finished edge.Let it set then go back and do another layer on top for the detail / smoothing

I'd also be tempted to fill the gaps under the legs, maybe make a curved plate effect slightly large in diameter then the leg feet?

You mean where the legs meet the floor?
I hadn't thought about that yet, but I may add a thin plate (riveted to the floor) under them.

(p.s. I hope things get better round your way soon)

Yep, sorry - see below for clarification... and thanks, fingers are crossed here, although outlook isn't great...

Dr H wrote:

 monkeytroll wrote:
Yeah, I was thinking of maybe a 2mm strip that didn't quite connect to the wall but would give that impression when viewed, but looking at the side view that probably wouldn't work. go with the Ruglud's suggestion of gs/milliput, or even blu-tac and pva in there as it doesn't have to hold up to any handling.

Yeah, I realised that the front-on view didn't really give you the full picture of the gap.
I'll give it a go with some putty.
Note also that it overlaps with the door pillar. That may also complicate matters...

I'll disagree with the right honourable Ruglud though and say I prefer the open legged look for the console

edit: Actually I think I midunderstood him there, I thought he meant make it a solid console......

That was also my first impression of what he said. But I think he means a floor-plate.

Yeah, sorry for vagueness, a plate on the floor so that the grooves uner the leg are also filled and mae it look like it's riveted down firmly... I also like the idea though of a thin edge strip around the console to give it a nice finished look

K. I shall do something about that when I get there.

I have filled in the back of the panel.
I squirted a bit of PVA in and then pushed in a load of sprue shavings (from the hut) and then left it a little while for the PVA to set (maybe) and then I set about filling the edges of the table and the sides of the panel.
I also added a small screen that seem to show up in lots of tank interior pictures that I've been looking at.

Aside from a little more tidying of the putty and a few wires/cables (and the floor plates ), I think I can call this part done.
...and maybe some more rivets too...

Next job is to do something with the other side of the tank that will be behind the gunner...
I'm thinking some kind of ammo storage... Ja oder Nein?
This may be because I had to idea to make a load of shells for the autocannon (I even found a thing that was the right size and shape, although I dunno what I did with it... ) and there's no way there is enough room for the stated 120 rounds in the little box on the back of the turret...

The squad disembark their transport to investigate a strange feature on the landscape...

(just for you Ruglud )

Happy Christmas
See you all on the other side (probably with a hangover).

Wow. That almost makes me jealous. Great job so far, and I'm really looking forward to paint.

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
Wow. That almost makes me jealous. Great job so far,

Thanks Skalk. So much more to do...

and I'm really looking forward to paint.

I'm not...
Nah, it will be fun. There is a lot more to add before I can even think about painting any of it (even just on the inside...).

Ha ha, thanks Dr H - now that is a Christmas table display to be proud of - makes me feel all Christmassy looking at it

Very christmassy

But what's that holly and the candle doing there too?

 Dr H wrote:
The squad disembark their transport to investigate a strange feature on the landscape...

(just for you Ruglud )

Happy Christmas
See you all on the other side (probably with a hangover).

The 8 pointed chaos star is growing death world vegetation. The pods are toxic , yet tasty.

Ruglud wrote:Ha ha, thanks Dr H - now that is a Christmas table display to be proud of - makes me feel all Christmassy looking at it

Good good.

monkeytroll wrote:Very christmassy

But what's that holly and the candle doing there too?

Just to flesh it out a bit... silly man

Theophony wrote:The 8 pointed chaos star is growing death world vegetation. The pods are toxic , yet tasty.

Ha, hadn't noticed that. Christmas dinner will take on a whole new meaning this year...

Looking good and happy holidays!

Thanks Shas. You too.

Merry Christmas.

You brilliant interior is making me feel very inadequate.

Nice work that is one complex and detailed instrument panel love the invasion of the dinner table sure the misses is impressed
Merry Christmas

merry christmas doc!

your tank is gonna looks tits when youg et done you have high expectations to live up to after the wave serpent build.

i expect no less that perfection

keep up the good work man.

Now that I have recovered from the food and drink of Christmas, I'm back...
I did manage to read over your blogs yesterday and today, but was too much of a zombie to post any replies. I shall work through the backlog soon, you have not been forgotten.

Camkierhi wrote:Merry Christmas.

You brilliant interior is making me feel very inadequate.

Thanks Cam, hope you had a good Christmas.
Do not feel inadequate, you are worthy. Strive for greater and greater detail and add it one piece at a time (that's all I do).

lone dirty dog wrote:Nice work that is one complex and detailed instrument panel

Thanks LDD.
When you decide to make an instrument panel you have to accept that it will require a lot of small and complex details. It's easier than it looks, as you just add them piece by piece and build it up.

The most difficult piece to add was actually the angled section in the middle (all the buttons and things were easy in comparison). I had to use a thin piece of wire to hold it up while I glued it on and then pulled the wire out (the gap underneath was thinner than my usual tweezers).

love the invasion of the dinner table sure the misses is impressed
Merry Christmas

No Mrs "Dr H" here, but Mum was pleased with it.
Hope you had a good Christmas too.

alabamaheretic wrote:merry christmas doc!

Thanks. Hope you had a good Christmas as well.

your tank is gonna looks tits when youg et done you have high expectations to live up to after the wave serpent build.

i expect no less that perfection

keep up the good work man.

Thanks. Yeah, each new model has to live up to the previous model and take the next step.
No cutting corners here, unless that corner doesn't fit...

I aim for as near to perfect as I can get with every model. If I can look at it and think "I could not have done any better", then I'm happy with it. If something doesn't live up to my expectations (like the interior detailing earlier), then I change it before moving on.

Right, so no actual progress yet. I'm still pondering the final corner of the interior...

However, in other news:
I didn't expect any hobby related presents this year. I asked for books and CDs as I already have quite a backlog of untouched plastic, but had read all my books and it's always nice to extend my CD collection.
Then I opened the presents from one of my brothers and I find this:

Together with a helping hand, this contains many various blades (some of which look quite evil ) and some poky things, a couple of saw blades, some gouging and shaping tools (one of which would have been really useful for the front of the Tainted Toilet cistern), a sanding block, a plane and a balsa wood stripping tool ( ) and handles for all the blades... all in a carry case.
It'll be a while before I find a use for everything, but many very useful things there.

"Normal" service shall return shortly.